My single favorite sound, if pressed to choose, would be crunching gravel on a hike.
Hiking, for me, is a sensual experience. It starts the moment I step out of my car, whether that’s on a mountain road in the Angeles National Forest, in a parking lot at Debs Park or on a residential street in the Hollywood Hills. All of my senses immediately engage — call it “hiking foreplay” — while surveying the open vistas, or dusty switchbacks, or the forested path ahead; while tuning in to the chorus of birds, rustling tree leaves and, as I climb upward, my own rhythmic breathing; while inhaling the commingling scents of, say, wild fennel, sage and sweat. Even the dry air on my dehydrated tongue or my aching glutes on an especially long journey somehow add to the experience. The body responds, unfurling.
The effect, no matter how rigorous the trek, is calming. Hiking, more than anything else, is what grounds me.
Los Angeles is a mecca for hiking, if just because of the topographical diversity in such uniquely close proximity — not to mention the weather. From the San Bernardino Mountains to the east to the Santa Monica Mountains to the west, there are miles upon miles of strikingly different trails offering ocean views or desert landscapes or soaring mountain peaks, some more than 10,000 feet high. And you can experience all of those terrains in a day, if you time it correctly.
A few writers and I trekked more than 150 miles between us to bring you this guide. We encountered rattlesnakes, coyotes and poison oak galore; we crossed creeks up to our thighs, one of us falling in once, the other slicing an elbow (it’s better now). We dodged a shady-looking character who others warned had been following hikers; but we also met new friends. We sang out loud on the trails, danced on them, kissed on them (with partners, not each other). We ate snacks on them, hatched ideas for books and columns on them, peed on them (you know you’ve done it too). We laughed on them.
We got lost plenty but found an overwhelming sense of peace on the trails, each of us in different ways.
“For me, it’s about feeling connected to the Earth, to Mother Nature, getting away from the city — the hustle and bustle, computer screens and phones buzzing — and being alone with my thoughts,” said Times contributor Matt Pawlik when I asked him why he hikes. “My most creative thinking comes on the trail. And it’s an adventure. It narrows your purpose of now — you have one job, to get to this destination and back.”
So lace up your boots (or your barefoot, nonslip hiking shoes, as is the trend), get out there and immerse yourself in the ever-present sound underfoot: “crunch, crunch, crunch.”
A few notes: The vast majority of these hikes are in Los Angeles County, but we’ve included some worthy ones further out for eager day-trippers. Distance and elevation below are based on our tracked hikes. The geolocation marks either nearby parking or the trail.
— Deborah Vankin